Securing means for meat molds



July 18, 1939. A. FAULKNER 2,166,429

SECURING MEANS FOR MEAT MOLDS Filed Sept. 6, 1938 8% U w w w U w M 15IZ, a v

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ArnoldFaulkner, Battle Creek, Mich., assignor to United Steel and WireCompany, Battle Creek, Mich.

Application September 6, 1938, Serial No. 228,497

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in securing means for meat molds.

The main objects of my invention are:

First, to provide a meat mold having improved means associated therewithfor securing the same in closed position.

Second, to provide a closure for a wire meat mold or equivalent deviceadapted to prevent accidental unlocking of the parts of the mold.

Third, to provide a device of the type described which is simple inconstruction and inexpensively manufactured.

Further objects relating to details and economics of the invention willappear from the description to follow. The invention is defined in theclaims. A structure embodying the features of my invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a side view of a meat mold equipped with the closure device ofmy invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of the mold, in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,illustrating the relation of the securing device thereto in lockedposition of the parts.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the parts of themold and locking device in closed position.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary detail views of the locking device ofmy invention in various positions of the parts thereof, Fig. 5 being insection on line 55 of Fig. 2.

The present invention relates particularly to a locking device adaptedto secure the sections or members of a wire meat mold together inoperative relation, and the said device has special provisions tofacilitate and expedite the locking and unlocking operations whereby themold may be readily fastened to or unfastened and removed from themolded product when desired; and likewise, to prevent accidentalunlocking and separation of the parts of the mold.

In the drawing, the reference numeral I in general indicates a wire meatmold formed of a plurality of longitudinal and transverse elements 2, 3respectively, of wire or rod stock. These elements are welded to oneanother at their intersections to furnish a strong rigid construction.The mold is of the type illustrated in patent to Jarvis No. 1,549,488 ofAugust 11, 1925, consisting generally of a pair of generally L-shapedmembers hinged to one another by means of eyes 4 on one of the membersencircling a longitudinal rod 5 on the other. A handle 6 is secured tothe mold for the purpose of readily transporting and suspending thesame.

The looking or securing structure of my invention is indicated broadlyby the numeral 1 and consists of pairs of coacting relatively wide loopmembers 8, 9 on the respective mold members. These loop members areformed integral with certain of the transverse elements 3 which are ofsomewhat heavier gauge stock inasmuch as they are to perform thefunction of securing the device in locked position. The loops 8 functionas keepers and are bent outwardly from the plane of the elements 3 whilethe loops 9 serve as pivots or fulcrums for the latch members, to bedescribed. Each of the said loops 9 is bent to provide a pair of roundedor curved bulged-out pivot portions or bights Ill engaged by restrictedor elongated eyes or bights ll of the latch members, which members aregenerally designated l2.

Said latch members are formed of suitable gauge wire stock and theactual loop-engaging portion thereof is S-shaped in outline, providingin addition to the eye or bight II (which permanently engages loop 9 dueto the restricted opening of bight II) a further bight designated l3,which passes around the keeper loop 8. There are a pair of latchelements l2 for each pair of loops 8, 9; i. e., a latch elementfulcrumed on each of the hinge bights it. These pairs of latch elementsand the latch elements of each pair are coupled together by longitudinalrod or wire members l4 Welded to extensions [5 on the latch elements. Inthe case of the intermediate latch elements, the extensions l5 arecarried rearwardly sufficiently and formed in the shape of a U toprovide an operating handle [6 whereby the latches may be actuatedsimultaneously.

Referring to Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6 it will be seen that each bight llengages a bulge It on loop 9 ecoentrically or in such manner thatlongitudinal shifting of the bights lengthwise of the loop isimpossible. That is, the bights I! are on opposite sides of the midpoints A of bulged-out pivot portions lil. Being thus offset lengthwisefrom a point, i. e., mid-point A, at which bights l I could partake of arelatively frictionless pivoting movement around portions It, the resultis that bights l! bind against the said portions at points B and C whenthe locking device is shifted by rotation from its closed position,illustrated in Fig. 5, to the unlocked position illustrated in Fig. 6.At the last named position the narrowest or transverse dimension ofbight It is disposed parallel to the plane of portion 19.. The aforesaidbinding at points B and C results, with a tendency to straighten outpivot portion Hi. When the locking device is pivoted 90 degrees further,to the position illustrated in Fig. 4, the longest or longitudinaldimension of bight II is disposed parallel tothe plane of pivot portionl9 and there is no binding action. Similarly, in closing position shownin Fig. 5, the binding effect is absent, due to the disposition of bightII and the plane of pivot portion ill in approximate parallelism.

The aforementioned action provides an efiective means for maintaininglocking device I in either fully open or fully closed position and. forpreventing accidental opening of the same. The binding effect comes intoplay just as soon as the device is shifted from closing position, andreaches a maximum when the relation of parts is similar to thatillustrated in Fig. 6, i. e., approximately degrees from closedposition.

In use, the sections are brought together with the latch device 1 open,i. e., with the handle I6 thereof drawn backwardly toward the moldmember on which it is pivoted to allow the loops 8, 9 to be brought intoadjacency, the locking device 1 being then in the position shown in Fig.4. The latch is then pivoted around the bights I0 in hinge or pivotloops 9 in clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 in opposition to thefrictional binding at points 13, C and until the bight l3 encircles loop8. To unlatch and separate the halves of the mold, it is necessary onlyto pivot latch member 1 in the opposite direction and in opposition tothe frictional binding action at points B, C.

The aforesaid locking device is simple, inexpensive, effective for itspurpose, and very readily manipulated. It not only locks the parts inassembled position but also opposes accidental displacement thereof fromthat position.

I have illustrated and described. my improvements in an embodiment whichis very practical. I have not attempted to illustrate or describe otherembodiments or adaptat ons, as it is believed this disclosure willenable those skilled in the art to embody or adapt my improvements asmay be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a meat mold having a pair of hinged portions of wire constructionadapted to form a closure, means for locking the portions in assembledrelation comprising a pair of loops carried by said respective portions,the loops of each pair extending to positions adjacent one another, oneof the loops of each pair having a pair of curved bulges thereonproviding journals, and latch members for drawing the loops of each pairtogether and securing and locking the same in position, comprising apair of elements each having a pair of integral bights, one of thebights of each latch element being restricted and pivoted on the loopbulge at opposite sides of the respective mid points of said bulges andthe other of the bights of each element being open and adapted toencircle the loop of the other portion to hold the portions in lockedrelation, the disposition of said bights relative to said mid pointscausing a frictional binding action when the latch members are pivotallyshifted to frictionally resist displacement of the portions from suchrelation.

2. In a meat mold having a pair of relatively shiftable portions adaptedto form a closure, means for locking the portions in assembled relationcomprising pairs of loops carried by the respective portions and inoperative position extending to positions adjacent one another, andlatch members for drawing the loops of each pair together and securingand locking the same in position, comprising elements adapted tolockingly engage the loops on one of said portions and having bights,the loops on the other of said portions having curved pivot portions,the bights of said latch elements being pivoted on said last named loopseccentrically of said curved pivot portions and adapted to bindinglyengage the same during pivotal movement of the element whereby tofrictionally resist displacement of the portions from locked relation.

3. In a meat mold comprising a pair of, pivoted portions constitutingthe walls of the mold, means for locking said portions in operativerelation and for facilitating removal thereof from the finished product,comprising pairs of loops carried by said respective portions, S-shapedlatch elements having corresponding bights thereof pivoted oncorresponding loops of said pairs, the other bights of said S-shapedelements being engageable with the other corresponding loops of saidpairs to lock the portions in operative relation, said first namedbights bindingly engaging the first named corresponding loops uponpivoting of the latch elements, whereby to resist displacement thereoffrom looking position, and means comprising extensions on said latchmembers for simultaneously actuating the same.

4. In a meat mold comprising a pair of pivoted portions constituting thewalls of the mold, means for locking said portions in operativerelation, comprising pairs of. loops carried by said respectiveportions, and S-shaped latch elements having corresponding bightsthereof pivoted on corresponding loops of said pairs, the other bightsof said S-shaped elements being engageable with corresponding otherloops of said pairs to lock the portions in operative relation, saidfirst named bights bindingly engaging said first named correspondingloops upon pivoting of the latch elements, whereby to resistdisplacement of the locking elements from looking position.

5. In a meat mold comprising a pair of pivoted portions constituting thewalls of the mold, i'neans for locking said portions in operativerelation, comprising S-shaped latch elements having corresponding bightsthereof pivoted on one of said portions, the other bights of said 8-shaped elements being engageable with the other of said portions, saidfirst named corresponding bights bindingly engaging said portion towhich they are pivoted upon pivotal movement of the latch elements,whereby to resist displacement of the locking elements.

6. In a meat mold having a pair of pivoted halves, a locking devicetherefor comprising a member having a. pair of. opposed integrallyconnected bights, and loops carried by each of said halves, therespective loops of said halves extending outwardly and adjacent oneanother when the halves are in operative position, said latch membershaving one of the bights thereof bindingly pivoted on a loop of one ofsaid halves with the other bight adapted to engage the loop of the otherhalf to lock the halves together.

'7. In a meat mold having a pair of pivoted halves, a locking devicetherefor comprising a latch member having a. pair of reversely arrangedbights, said latch member having one of the bights thereof pivoted onone of said halves with the other bight adapted to engage the other halfto lock said halves together, said one of the latch member bights beingnon-circular and the half to which it is pivoted having a curved portionbindingly engaged by said non-circular bight to resist displacement ofthe latch member in looking position.

ARNOLD FAULKNER.

